Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Palestinians: World Heritage Sites

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what actionthey are taking to protect sites owned by Palestinians which have been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites from being damaged by Israeli (1) settlers, or (2) forces.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: In our meetings with the Israeli authorities we regularly raise the need to respect the status quo of the holy sites in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. We continue to urge the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to avoid actions that make it more difficult to achieve a negotiated solution to the conflict.

Israeli Settlements

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they plan to take, if any, to protect any Palestinian villages within the areas designated for annexation by the government of Israel which are at risk of(1) forced removal, or (2) destruction.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: We are deeply concerned by reports that the new Israeli Government coalition has reached an agreement which may pave the way for annexation of parts of the West Bank. We are urging Israel not to proceed. The Foreign Secretary reiterated this message during a call with Alternate Israeli Prime Minister Gantz on 20 May and Israeli Foreign Minister Ashkenazi on 2 June. The UK position is clear: any unilateral moves toward annexation would be damaging to renewed efforts to restart peace negotiation, and contrary to international law. Demolitions and evictions of Palestinians from their homes cause unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians and, in all but the most exceptional of cases, are contrary to International Humanitarian Law.

West Bank: Demolition

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Palestinian-owned property in Al-Walaja is under threat of demolition to make way for construction of a park exclusively for Israelis; and what support, if any, are they giving to the owners of any such property.

lord ahmad of wimbledon: Our legal aid supports residents in Al-Walaja and officials from our Embassy in Tel Aviv and Consulate-General in Jerusalem visited the area on 17 June. As we made clear at the UN Security Council remote meeting on the Middle East Peace Process on 20 May, the UK is seriously concerned by the continued demolition of Palestinian property by Israeli authorities. In all but the most exceptional of circumstances demolitions by an occupying power are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. The practice causes unnecessary suffering to ordinary Palestinians and is harmful to the peace process. We urge both sides to avoid taking actions which make peace more difficult to achieve.

Nigeria: Violence

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Nigeria about violence in the Nigerian Middle-Belt involving farmers and herders.

baroness sugg: Intercommunal violence across multiple states in Nigeria has had a devastating impact on all communities. The UK Government has engaged closely with the federal government, state government, international partners and the National Economic Council to help address the drivers of intercommunal violence and push for solutions. UK officials discussed the issue in detail with the former Chief of Staff to the Nigerian President in January.The FCO and Wilton Park hosted a joint conference on 'Fostering Social Cohesion in Nigeria' in February. Attendees included representatives of the Nigerian Government. The discussion focused on the complex causes of conflict and explored solutions. A full report from the conference has been published. The British High Commissioner and her team are increasing their engagement with state governors in affected states. For example, a team visited Plateau State in December to discuss the situation with the Governor, Christian and Muslim faith leaders and to meet organisations working on reconciliation.

Nigeria: Human Rights and Violence

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with the government of Nigeria about the investigation of cases of reported military complicity in violence against Christians and other human rights abuses.

baroness sugg: The UK is firmly committed to promoting and protecting human rights around the world. We have made clear to the Nigerian authorities, at the highest levels, the importance of protecting civilians, including all ethnic and religious groups, and human rights for all Nigerians. We are aware that communities of all faiths have made allegations of military complicity in some incidences of violence. We call for all allegations of human rights abuses or excessive use of force to be investigated and those responsible to be held to account.Following allegations of human rights abuses made against Nigerian military detention facilities in Amnesty International's recent report, 'We Dried our Tears', the British High Commissioner raised the report with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and called for a full investigation into the allegations and prosecution of any individuals found to have committed abuses. We reiterate that the UK Government does not provide any support to the military detention facilities mentioned.

George Floyd

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have any evidence that al-Qaeda is attempting to exploit the protests which have followed George Floyd’s death in the United States for their own propaganda purposes, further to the latest edition of their online magazine, One Ummah; and if so, how.

baroness sugg: On 8 June, al-Qaeda (AQ) issued a multi-page article in its English-language magazine, One Ummah, focusing on the death of George Floyd and subsequent protests. There have been no references to the protests in AQ's central media since, though AQ and Daesh on-line followers continue to discuss and celebrate the ongoing situation in the USA.

Cyprus: Christianity

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of Turkey about the reported persecution of Christians in Cyprus.

baroness sugg: The UK is committed to defending freedom of religion or belief, and promoting respect between communities of different religions and those of no religion. The UK has supported the work of the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage in the northern part of Cyprus. This committee was created under the auspices of the United Nations and works to promote and protect the cultural heritage of the island of Cyprus. This includes preservation of religious sites in the north of Cyprus.

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Protective Clothing

lord roberts of llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much personal protection equipment the NHS has (1) received, and (2) purchased, from other countries.

lord bethell: In March 2020 a new, dedicated unit was set up to focus on securing supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE). This unit identified PPE suppliers from across the globe to meet the increasing demand for a growing list of PPE products. We have now contracted with over 150 suppliers able to deliver at the scale and pace the United Kingdom requires.The central database system for these new PPE contracts, implemented by Cabinet Office colleagues, does not identify non-UK suppliers by individual country; and many of the UK-based suppliers also import supplies from other countries for which the information is not held centrally. It is therefore not possible to supply complete information on how much PPE has been received or purchased from non-UK countries. Procurement Regulations require the publication of Contract Award Notices in the Official Journal of the European Union and certain information will be published on Contracts Finder about the contracts awarded.

Protective Clothing: 3D Printing

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) 3D printers they have acquired, and (2) individuals with 3D printers have volunteered, to produce visors for NHS staff.

lord bethell: The Government is working around the clock to ensure that the National Health Service and social care sector have the equipment and support they need.The Government is building up United Kingdom manufacturing with signed contracts to manufacture over two billion items of personal protective equipment through UK-based manufacturers, including facemasks, visors, gowns and aprons.Photocentric, a producer of 3D printers and the polymer used to make printed parts, is supplying over 7.6 million protective visors over the next six months.

Liverpool Football Club: Coronavirus

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what scientific advice was sought from Public Health England before the football match between Liverpool and Atlético Madrid on 11 March was permitted to take place; what assessment was made of permitting people to come together for a public event during a period in which Spain had placed its population in partial lockdown; who gave the advice on behalf of Public Health England; and which Ministers were involved in assessing that advice. [T]

lord bethell: I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has advised that a number of sports and other events took place in the period before the Prime Minister announced the lockdown on 23 March. It was absolutely appropriate for them to do so as it was in line with the public health guidance at the time, and indeed, in line with wider activity in the economy and society more generally. It was also in line with the Government’s border and travel policy.It is the Government’s absolute priority to protect people's health and our advice to the public is based on direct, continuous consultation with scientific and medical experts. There are many factors that could influence the number of cases in a particular area, including population density, age, general health, and the position of an area on the pandemic curve.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

lord pearson of rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord True on 4 May (HL3274), what assessment they have made of the other factors that are potentially contributing to the increased death rate; what estimate they have made of the number of non-COVID-19 related deaths resulting from the measures taken to prepare for a surge in NHS hospital admissions; and how many operations were cancelled or postponed in anticipation of a surge in COVID-19 cases.

lord bethell: No formal assessment has yet been made of other factors contributing to excess deaths, but the Department is carrying out extensive work with Public Health England, the Office for National Statistics and the Care Quality Commission to better understand the virus and causes of excess deaths.The National Health Service does not collect data on operations which have been cancelled or postponed on a national level, except for on the day urgent cancellations for non-clinical reasons. About five operations each day are urgently cancelled for non-clinical reasons, although this is a significantly small subset of cancellations. Information on the data held on cancelled elective operations can be found in Cancelled Elective Operations, which is attached.



Cancelled Elective Operations
(PDF Document, 139.15 KB)

Protective Clothing: Procurement

the lord bishop of newcastle: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the reply by Lord Bethell on 23 April (HL Deb, col 90), whether their approach to personal protective equipment procurement remains one of collaboration with local initiatives following the report in the Financial Times on 4 May that procurement is being nationalised.

lord bethell: A cross-Government personal protective equipment (PPE) sourcing unit, staffed by over 400 people, is securing new supply lines from across the world and has published rigorous standards against which purchases will be made. Lord Deighton is leading the Government effort by British industry to manufacture PPE. The Government has processed over 23,000 cases from over 15,000 suppliers and has contracted with 150 of them. In addition, we are in contact with over 350 potential manufacturers and have signed contracts to manufacture over two billion items of PPE through United Kingdom-based manufacturers. More new manufacturers are expected to commit to producing PPE in the coming weeks.

Coronavirus: Screening

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to increase the UK's testing capacity for COVID-19; and how many tests they plan to conduct in June.

lord bethell: The Government has previously committed to a testing capacity of 200,000 a day by the end of May which it has achieved. Daily testing capacity now sits at 282,498 as of 22 June.

Protective Clothing: Sri Lanka

lord naseby: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatdiscussions theyhavehad with companies in thegarment industry in Sri Lanka about producing and supplying personal protection equipment products to the UK.

lord bethell: A cross-Government personal protective equipment (PPE) sourcing unit, staffed by over 400 people, is securing new supply lines from across the world and has published rigorous standards against which purchases will be made.We are identifying new sources of critical PPE from overseas markets, diversifying the United Kingdom’s sources of supply and strengthening the UK’s supply chains for the long term.The Department for International Trade and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office teams around the world are seeking new supplies, lobbying governments to lift export restrictions and helping get crucial deliveries back to the UK. We are using our wider trade tools to seek to strengthen our procurement power on PPE and medical supplies. This includes deepening our relationships with partner countries through Joint Economic and Trade Committees, including with countries in South East Asia.

Protective Clothing: Coronavirus

baroness ritchie of downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress the Cabinet Office has made in processing offers of help with the manufacture of personal protection equipment by UK businesses.

lord bethell: Lord Deighton is leading the Government effort to expand supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) from overseas and improve domestic manufacturing capability.The Government has processed over 23,000 cases from over 15,000 suppliers and has contracted with 150 of them. In addition, we are in contact with over 350 potential manufacturers and have signed contracts to manufacture over two billion items of PPE through United Kingdom-based manufacturers. More new manufacturers are expected to commit to producing PPE in the coming weeks.

Coronavirus: Medical Equipment and Protective Clothing

lord birt: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to stockpile sufficient (1) personal protective equipment and (2) medical equipment and supplies, to cope with any second wave of the COVID-19pandemic. [T]

lord bethell: We are working to expand the supply of personal protective equipment (PPE) from overseas and improve domestic manufacturing capability. We are expanding and improving the logistics network for delivering to the front line.We are confident in the stocks and sources of supply of PPE to meet the needs of health and social care over the coming months.As part of our concerted national efforts to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Department is working closely with industry, the National Health Service and others in the supply chain to help ensure patients can access the medicines and medical devices and equipment they need. Precautions are in place to reduce the likelihood of future shortages, including management of demand.The Department shares regular information about impending supply issues and management plans with the NHS via networks in primary and secondary care and will liaise with relevant patient groups about issues affecting specific medicines, medical devices and equipment.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whatis the minimum turnaround time for the NHS test and trace results to be processed; and what assessment they have made of whether that time is fast enough to isolate outbreaks before furtherpeople become infected.

lord bethell: The Government launched its new NHS Test and Trace service on 28 May 2020. Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 is eligible for a free test and should book one as soon as their symptoms start. The contact tracing process starts as soon as NHS Test and Trace receive notification that someone has tested positive for COVID-19. People identified as having been in close contact with someone who has had a positive test will be contacted and told to stay at home for 14 days, even if they do not have symptoms, to minimise the risk that they unknowingly spread the virus. The majority of tests at Regional Testing Centres and Mobile Testing Units are returned within 24 hours, with 90% returned within 48 hours. Other than postal tests and other insuperable problems, all tests will be turned around within 24 hours by the end of June. We are tracing the contacts of thousands of positive cases, using both online services and over the phone, and we are encouraged by the progress so far. In total, since 28 May to 10 June 2020, 72.6% (10,192) of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 were reached by our contact tracers and asked to share details of their close contacts. 90.6% (87,639) of close contacts were reached and advised to self-isolate.

Coronavirus: Equality

lord freyberg: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Summary of Impacts: Coronavirus Bill, published on 19 March, when they will publish the equalities assessment undertaken as part of the Public Sector Equalities Duty.

lord bethell: The duty to have regard to the impact on equalities is an ongoing one.The Government’s commitment to transparency and accountability is reflected in the duties set out in the Coronavirus Act 2020 to publish a status report every two months; carry out a review every six months with a debate and vote in the House of Commons; and publish a status report for debate in both Houses after one year.We are considering how best to update Parliament on the equalities impact of the legislation as part of this broader commitment.

Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

baroness jolly: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 test and trace system on easing the lockdown.

lord bethell: The NHS Test and Trace service forms a central part of the COVID-19 recovery strategy, which seeks to return life to as close to normal as possible, for as many people as possible, in a way that is safe and protects the National Health Service and social care.Our ability to go further in easing restrictions, or the need to reintroduce further restriction measures, will depend on a range of factors, including most critically whether people following social distancing guidance and regulations. The more people follow the instructions, the safer we will be, and the faster we can safely lift the lockdown.We are continuously assessing the impact of NHS Test and Trace and making improvements to the system. On 11 June, we published data on the first week of operation of the contact tracing element of the system, and we will be updating this on a weekly basis.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have been (1) tracked, and (2) traced, for each day since the launch of the current scheme; and how many people have been advised to self-isolate for 14 days as a result. [T]

lord bethell: Data on the number of people tracked and traced as part of the NHS Test and Trace programme are not available in the format requested.The Department publishes weekly experimental statistics from the NHS Test and Trace service in England. Figures include contact tracing undertaken online, by local health protection teams and by contact tracing staff.The data shows that between 28 May and 10 June 2020 14,045 people who tested positive for COVID-19 had their case transferred to the contact tracing system, of whom 10,192 were asked to provide details of recent contacts. 96,746 contacts were identified and of these 87,639 were reached and advised to self-isolate.A copy of Experimental Statistics Weekly NHS Test and Trace bulletin, England: 28 May – 10 June 2020 is attached. 



test_and_trace_bulletin_week_2_28_may_to_10_june
(PDF Document, 225.86 KB)

Coronavirus: Older People

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Public Health England report stating that the largest number of people in critical care due to COVID-19 are aged between 50 and 70, whether they consider this age group to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19.

lord bethell: Public Health England’s report found that COVID-19 diagnosis rates increased with age for both males and females. When compared to all-cause mortality in previous years, deaths from COVID-19 have a slightly older age distribution, particularly for males.Among people with a positive test, those who were between 50-59 were nine times more likely to die, compared with those under 40. Also, people who were between 60-69 were 25 times more likely to die than those under 40.These disparities exist after taking ethnicity, deprivation and region into account, but they do not account for the effect of comorbidities or occupation, which may explain some of the differences.

Coronavirus: Older People

baroness altmann: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the vulnerability of people aged between 70 and 80 without underlying health conditions to the impact of COVID-19; and how this compares to the vulnerability of someone aged 40 with underlying health problems including (1) diabetes, (2) heart disease, or lung disease.

lord bethell: Public Health England (PHE) led a rapid review to better understand how a number of different factors can impact on how people are affected by COVID-19. This included an analysis of age, sex (male and female), deprivation, geography, ethnicity, and other factors, where surveillance data was available to PHE.The review found that among people with a positive test, those who were 80 or older were 70 times more likely to die, compared with those under 40. These were the largest disparities found in this analysis and are consistent with what has been previously reported in the United Kingdom.No comparisons have been made between the vulnerability of someone aged between 70 and 80 and someone aged 40 with underlying health problems to the impact of COVID-19.Some analyses outlined in the review are provisional and will continue to be improved. Further work is planned to obtain, link and analyse data that will complement these analyses.A copy of PHE’s report Disparities in the risk and outcomes of COVID-19 is attached.



Disparities_review.pdf
(PDF Document, 3.07 MB)

Chorley and South Ribble Clinical Commissioning Group: Protective Clothing

lord hoyle: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Chorley and South Ribble Clinical Commissioning Group participated in the purchasing of Personal Protective Equipment as part of the initiative co-ordinated by the Lancashire Resilience Forum; and if not, why not.

lord bethell: Local authorities and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), working with their Local Resilience Forums and drawing on their pre-existing plans for pandemic influenza and the latest guidance for the COVID-19 outbreak available online at GOV.UK, should follow the steps to support people who use direct payments to purchase care and support. The role of the commissioner of their direct payment, whether the local authority or the CCG, is to provide assistance in accessing personal protective equipment.

Exercise Cygnus: Sick Leave

lord hunt of kings heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord True on 4 June (HL4779), what assessment they have made of reports thatNHS representatives estimated during Exercise Cygnus that staff absenteeism could be as high as 40 per cent and that the Department for Work and Pensions based its exercise response on a figure of 50 per cent; and what plans they have to reassess the Written Answer byLord True.

lord bethell: The UK Influenza Pandemic Preparedness Strategy 2011 identified that up to 50% of the workforce may require time off at some stage over the entire period of an influenza pandemic, with 15-20% of staff absent on any given day. However, some small organisational units (five to 15 staff) or small teams within larger organisational units where staff work in close proximity are likely to suffer higher percentages of staff absences, with potentially 30-35% absent on any given day.Each Government department is responsible for ensuring its own preparedness, and that of the sectors for which it is responsible, to manage the impacts of a pandemic. The Cabinet Office and the Department of Health and Social Care have supported departments to assess and improve the resilience of their sectors to operate in a pandemic, particularly in respect to a reduced workforce.

Nutrition

lord bassam of brighton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to promote nutritional and healthy living advice during and after the COVID-19 pandemic; and how will they ensure that any advice is (1) positive, and (2) accessible.

lord bethell: Public Health England has updated channels such as Change4Life, Start4Life and One You, to make them consistent with the wider COVID-19 advice and advice on healthier eating.Change4Life is supporting families with children with a range of simple healthy recipes, 10 Minute Shake Up indoor games and healthy snacking tips and ideas. This material and more is available online at Change4Life, newsletters and social media.

Coronavirus: Death

lord maginnis of drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Bethell on 10 June (HL3794), why they will not provide figures for the percentage of the population who have died from COVID-19 in (1) England, (2) Scotland, (3) Wales and (4) Northern Ireland in order to facilitate a strategic assessment of comparative regional efficiencies.

lord bethell: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes the weekly numbers of deaths registered in England and Wales, and National Records Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency are responsible for publishing the number of deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. The number of deaths involving COVID-19 are published rather than the percentage of the population who have died from COVID-19, as this is a more useful and accurate way of keeping a consistent record of death data.The ONS also routinely publishes population estimates. The current data, for mid-2018, for the four nations of the United Kingdom allow the required percentages to be calculated as shown in the following table. Registered deaths involving COVID-19Mid-2018 population estimatesPercentageEngland45,01656,286,9610.080Wales2,3003,152,8790.073Scotland4,0705,463,3000.074Northern Ireland7741,893,6670.041 Source: ONS weekly figures on death registrations week ending 5 June 2020.

Public Health: Coronavirus

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what indirect public health challenges they anticipate after the COVID-19 pandemic; and what steps they are taking to alleviate them.

lord bethell: As set out in the Government’s COVID-19 Recovery Strategy, the Government anticipates a range of indirect impacts on the nation's health, including harm caused by delays to important but non-urgent medical care and public health programmes, the mental health impact of isolation, and the health impacts of COVID-19 related economic instability.Work is ongoing to plan for the recovery of suspended services. Public Health England has directly published or supported a range of guidance and resources, including how individuals can maintain their mental health and wellbeing during the pandemic. The Government is protecting jobs and the economy to mitigate economic impacts of COVID-19 and reduce their impact on population health.

Smoking: Coronavirus

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plansthey have to launch a campaign to address nicotine addiction to deliver a better outcome for COVID-19 patients.

lord bethell: Public Health England (PHE) has updated online channels such as Smokefree and One You, to make them consistent with the wider COVID-19 advice on quitting smoking. Specific guidance for smokers and vapers has been published online at Smokefree. PHE supports smokers with a range of free quitting tools, including a Personal Quit Plan, the Smokefree app, a Smokefree Quit Smoking Support Group on Facebook, and a 28-day email and SMS programme.PHE also provides free printed and digital resources to local authorities, local stop smoking services and National Health Service providers to integrate with national marketing activity.

Drugs: Costs

lord browne of belmont: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of generic medications whose costs have increased due to shortages caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

lord bethell: The Government has made no such assessment.We do, however, continuously monitor overall movements in changes in the prices of medicines through various methods, including data from suppliers using the provisions in the Health Service Products (Provision and Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2018. It is too early to assess the increased cost to the National Health Service in light of COVID-19.For unbranded generic medicines the Department relies on competition to keep prices down. This has led to some of the lowest prices in Europe and allows prices to react to the market. In an international market this ensures that when demand is high and supply is low, prices in the United Kingdom can increase to help secure the availability of medicines for UK patients.

Social Distancing: Music

lord smith of finsbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government what scientific analysis has been undertaken of the potential travel distance of aerosol or droplets during singing; and on what evidence they will base any decisions on social distancing restrictions for members of a choir.

lord bethell: A review of the existing literature on this topic was considered by the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group on 17 June 2020. The committee’s deliberations and any recommendations will be considered imminently by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). Decisions on special social distancing guidance for choir members will depend on the conclusions arrived at by SAGE.

Insulin

lord roberts of llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will ensure that there is sufficient insulin available when theUK leaves the EU.

lord roberts of llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made about whether any drugs or medicines will be in short supply after theUK leaves the EU.

lord bethell: The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January and is now in a Transition Period until 31 December 2020. During this time, it remains our objective to negotiate a future relationship with the EU and in our respective published negotiating documents, we have both stated objectives to reach an agreement on trade in goods. The UK’s published approach sets out how we want to facilitate trade in medicinal products and support high levels of patient safety.The Government, pharmaceutical industry and National Health Service will always work closely together to help ensure patients continue to have access, to the medicines and treatments they need, including insulin, under all scenarios.The Department has well-established procedures to deal with medicine shortages and is working closely with industry, the NHS and others in the supply chain to reduce the likelihood of future shortages resulting from any cause.

Hospitals: Coronavirus

baroness gale: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following the COVID-19 pandemic, (1) what measures are in place to restart outpatient clinics while ensuring that those who visit do not contract the virus, and (2) how these measures are being communicated to patients.

lord bethell: Whilst routine treatments were suspended to provide capacity to treat COVID-19 patients, we are now working closely with the National Health Service and other partners to restart these in a safe way, with excellence in infection prevention and control as a key principle. Guidance has already been issued on this, and approaches are being tailored at local level according to local capacity and local demand, with the most urgent services being restarted first.The NHS ‘Help us to help you’ media campaign encourages all patients in need of urgent or emergency medical care to seek appropriate treatment.

Mental Health Services: Coronavirus

baroness gale: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services have provided telephone and video appointments in place of face-to-face appointments between the start of the COVID-19 lockdown on 23 March and 15 June.

lord bethell: We are unable to provide the data as requested.The information on whether appointments take place face-to-face or by phone or video is only available in the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies annual publications. This information covering the period 1 April 2019 - 31 March 2020 is due to be published on 30 July 2020.

Parkinson's Disease: Mental Health Services

baroness gale: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure that people with Parkinson's disease will have continued access to psychological therapies until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

lord bethell: National Health Service mental health services have remained open for business throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, including delivering support digitally and over the phone where possible. In doing so, the NHS has been clear on the importance of maintaining face to face care for those patients who need it, and of patient choice in determining suitability for digital appointments.When delivering face to face appointments, mental health services are expected to follow the latest guidance on the use of personal protective equipment in healthcare settings to support infection prevention and control. Services will be further enabled by the roll out of the NHS Test and Trace service to reduce transmission risk and deliver face to face services in as safe a way as possible.

Coronavirus: Research

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government, following reports that hydroxychloroquine is ineffective in treating COVID-19, what plans they have to review their methods for assessing scientific evidence.

lord bethell: There are no plans to review the methods for assessing scientific evidence following the outcome of the hydroxychloroquine arm of the RECOVERY trial.Results from trials, even if the treatment proves ineffective, are still very useful in understanding COVID-19 and which other treatments could be more effective. This includes dexamethasone, which was also identified by the RECOVERY trial as having a significant benefit for hospitalised patients with COVID-19 who require oxygen or ventilation.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

baroness bennett of manor castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the ZOE ‘COVID-19 Symptom Study’ which suggests that one in 10 people experience COVID-19 symptoms lasting longer than three weeks.

lord bethell: The Government continues to monitor and assess data from a wide variety of sources on COVID-19 as it emerges. The Government is aware of the ZOE ‘COVID-19 Symptom Study’ and has included the data on symptom duration as part of its considerations.The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies recently re-evaluated length of self-isolation for symptomatic individuals and did not recommend a change to current advice.

Parkinson's Disease: Mental Health Services

baroness gale: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures are in place to ensure that people with Parkinson's disease who are digitally excluded and have symptoms of the motor speech disorder dysarthria can access psychological therapies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

lord bethell: Throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, the National Health Service has been clear on the importance of maintaining face to face care for those patients who need it, and of patient choice in determining suitability for digital appointments.When delivering face to face appointments, mental health services are expected to follow the latest guidance on the use of personal protective equipment in healthcare settings to support infection prevention and control. Services will be further enabled by the roll out of the NHS Test and Trace service to reduce transmission risk and deliver face to face services in as safe a way as possible.

Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

lord mann: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have registered for the COVID-19 track and trace application on the Isle of Wight; and how many individuals affected by COVID-19 have been traced to date using that application.

lord bethell: Over 50,000 people on the Isle of Wight downloaded and activated the app. Out of this number, on 18 June, 1,765 people had been notified that they had been in close contact with someone who had symptoms.

Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

lord mann: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people who were traced under the NHS Test and Trace system were so traced due to a (1) their own, and (2) another person’s, positive COVID-19 test.

lord bethell: Experimental statistics were published on 18 June. Between 28 May and 10 June 2020 – 14,045 people who tested positive for COVID-19 had their case transferred to the contact tracing system, of whom 10,192 were reached and asked to provide details of recent close contacts (traced due to their own positive COVID-19 test); 96,746 contacts were identified and of these 87,639 were reached and advised to self-isolate (traced due to another person’s positive COVID-19 test).

Blood: Coronavirus

lord mann: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people have donated blood in England containing COVID-19 antibodies.

lord bethell: NHS Blood and Transplant does not routinely test blood donations for COVID-19 antibodies. However, NHS Blood and Transplant is providing a small proportion of randomised, anonymised samples taken from routine blood donations to Public Health England as part of its seroprevalence study. This will help understand how many people in the population have the antibody against COVID-19.In addition, as part of the REMAP-CAP and RECOVERY trials, NHS Blood and Transplant is collecting convalescent plasma from donors who have had COVID-19, in order to treat patients with COVID-19. The plasma is currently being supplied to 88 hospitals. As of 14 June 2020, over 6,000 units of plasma have been collected, with over 600 units released to hospitals.

Intensive Care: Coronavirus

lord mann: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people in England remain in intensive care for COVID-19-related illness.

lord bethell: The data is not available in the format requested.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment have they made of the latest studies about seroprevalence on antibodies and the implications of these results for future immunity from COVID-19.

lord bethell: Control of COVID-19 requires the ability to detect asymptomatic and mild infections, that would not present to healthcare and would otherwise remain undetected through existing surveillance systems. This is important to determine the number of infections within the general population to understand transmission and to allow estimations of infection fatality and infection hospitalisation ratios.Public Health England (PHE) is undertaking several studies on sero-prevalence in England, using samples from a range of sources, including the PHE seroepidemiology unit, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the ‘What’s the STORY’ study and NHS Blood and Transplant. PHE seroprevalence results are published weekly in the PHE surveillance report. A copy of the latest Weekly Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Surveillance Report: Summary of COVID-19 surveillance systems (published 19 June 2020) is attached.There is good evidence that most people infected develop an antibody response. Work is continuing in PHE to understand whether the immune response to infection prevents reinfection, and if so how long any protection may last. 



Weekly COVID-19 Surveillance Report 19 June
(PDF Document, 3.02 MB)

Coronavirus: Tocilizumab

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of Tocilizumab in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

lord bethell: The Chief Medical Officer has advised that treatment given for COVID-19 other than general supportive care, treatment for underlying conditions, and antibiotics for secondary bacterial complications, should currently be as part of a trial, where that is possible.The Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory Agency (MHRA) is working closely with the Department and others in the global response to COVID-19 and is prioritising review of applications relating to COVID-19 in response to this public health emergency.There have been three United Kingdom clinical trials authorised that include investigation of Tocilizumab for treatment of COVID-19. The UK clinical trials are currently underway but have not been completed, and no conclusions have been reached on the safety and effectiveness of this medicine to treat COVID-19.The Commission on Human Medicines has convened a COVID-19 Expert Working Group that meets on a regular basis to review the latest developments and advise the MHRA on its regulatory implications.

Coronavirus: Remdesivir

lord kennedy of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of Remdesivir in the treatment of patients with COVID-19.

lord bethell: On 26 May 2020, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a positive Scientific Opinion through the Early Access to Medicines Scheme for the use of remdesivir in United Kingdom patients. This informs prescribers on the use of remdesivir across the UK in the treatment of adults and adolescents hospitalised with severe COVID-19 infection who meet additional clinical criteria.Several clinical trials to evaluate remdesivir and its possible effects on patients with COVID-19 have already been approved by the MHRA and are ongoing in the UK. Currently the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use is considering an application for a conditional marketing authorisation for remdesivir through the European Centralised procedure, and the UK has contributed to the discussions.

Coronavirus: Hospitals

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many patients were in each NHS Nightingale Hospital on the Monday of each week between 23 March and 8 June. [T]

lord bethell: The data is not available in the format requested.

Contact Tracing: Computer Software

lord scriven: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much the NHSX centralised COVID-19 contact track and tracing application cost to develop to date.

lord bethell: To date the cost of developing the National Health Service COVID-19 app is £10.8 million. Our investment in the Isle of Wight phase has provided us with valuable information that we can combine with Google and Apple’s technology in a new solution to support the entire NHS Test and Trace service and product that is right for the British public.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

lord wigley: To ask Her Majesty's Government in which regions of England the COVID-19 R transmission rate has been recorded as being above 1.0 during (1) May, and (2) June.

lord bethell: The Government Office for Science has published estimates of R in NHS England regions for the past two weeks. These estimates are detailed in the following table. Regional R estimates are more uncertain and variability in the data means they are more likely to fluctuate from one week to the next.R can only be estimated and not precisely calculated. The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ view is that it is highly likely that the true value of R lies within the published range. If the range extends above 1 then this does not necessarily mean the epidemic in that region is increasing, just that the uncertainty in the data means it cannot be ruled out.NHS England RegionEstimated R numberPublished on 12 JunePublished on 19 JuneEast of England0.7 – 0.90.7 – 0.9London0.8 – 1.00.7 – 1.0Midlands0.8 – 1.00.8 – 1.0North East and Yorkshire0.7 – 1.00.7 – 0.9North West0.8 – 1.00.7 – 1.0South East0.8 – 1.00.7 – 0.9South West0.8 – 1.10.6 – 0.9

Contact Tracing: Computer Software

baroness finlay of llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that any application designed to track people who have been in contact with COVID-19 (1) works on a broad range of mobile phones and operating systems; (2) can send notifications to contacts within minutes of symptoms having been reported; (3) can detect hacking attempts and prevent notifications being sent maliciously; and (4) can apply corrective algorithms to ensure that distance is measured accurately.

lord bethell: We have prioritised security and privacy in all stages of the app’s development starting with the initial design and continuing throughout its implementation and testing. We have been working with experts from the National Cyber Security Centre, our independent Ethics Advisory Board, and security researchers and ethicists from industry.

Contact Tracing: Computer Software

baroness finlay of llandaff: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the answer byLord Bethell on 22 June (HL Deb, cols 17–18), (1) when, and (2) where, the record of the governance processes used to inform the decisions to discontinue work on the NHSX COVID-19 application will be published.

lord bethell: The Government does not routinely publish details on the formulation and development of policy, which includes dates and minutes of meetings held.

Department for International Development

Department for International Trade: Independent Commission for Aid Impact

baroness bennett of manor castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the announcement that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Department for International Develolpment will merge, what will be the effect on the Independent Commission for Aid Impact.

baroness sugg: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will be accountable to parliament for how it spends UK aid. We remain committed to full transparency in our aid spending and there will continue to be parliamentary and independent scrutiny of the aid budget – the form this takes following the merger will be set out in due course.

Overseas Aid: Family Planning

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Prime Minister on 16 June about the merger of the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (HC Deb, cols 666–8), what plans they have to ensure thatuniversal access to sexual and reproductive health remains a focus of their foreign policy.

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by the Prime Minister on 16 June about the merger of the Department for International Development and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (HC Deb, cols 666–8), what plans they have to ensure that family planning is a priority in the use of Overseas Development Assistance.

baroness sugg: The UK government’s commitment to comprehensive sexual and reproductive health and rights overseas is unwavering: from tackling HIV, to family planning, safe abortion, maternal and newborn health, and supporting efforts to end Female Genital Mutilation and child, early and forced marriage. Through our voice on the world stage and in our UK aid programmes, we continue to put women and girls and the poorest and most marginalised at the heart of what we do.

Department for International Development: Reorganisation

baroness goudie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the case for merging the Department for International Development into the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

baroness sugg: The Government remains fully focused on stopping the spread of COVID-19 and saving lives. We are using UK aid to its full effect to counter the health, humanitarian, and economic risks and impact of this pandemic in the developing world. Through aligning our efforts, we will maximise our influence and expertise and ensure we are in the best position to continue to drive the international response to the pandemic – funding the development of a vaccine and supporting the global recovery.

Department for Education

History: Curriculum

lord storey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the National Curriculum to ensure that it (1) better reflectsblack history, and (2) gives a more balanced view of the UK’s colonial and imperial past.

baroness berridge: The department is committed to an inclusive education system which recognises and embraces diversity and supports all pupils and students to tackle racism and have the knowledge and tools to do so. The national curriculum is a framework setting out the content of what the department expects schools to cover in each subject. The curriculum does not set out how curriculum subjects, or topics within the subjects, should be taught. The department believes teachers should be able to use their own knowledge and expertise to determine how they teach their pupils, and to make choices about what they teach. As part of a broad and balanced curriculum, pupils should be taught about different societies, and how different groups have contributed to the development of Britain, and this can include the voices and experience of Black people. The flexibility within the history curriculum means that there is the opportunity for teachers to teach about Black history across the spectrum of themes and eras set out in the curriculum. For example, at key stage 1, schools can teach about the lives of key Black historical figures such as Mary Seacole and Rosa Parks or others; and at key stage 3, cover the development and end of the British Empire and Britain’s transatlantic slave trade, its effects and its eventual abolition. The teaching of Black history need not be limited to these examples.

History: Education

lord watson of invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that BAME history and colonisation are taught and integrated across the curriculum in (1) primary, and (2) secondary, schools.

baroness berridge: The department is committed to an inclusive education system which recognises and embraces diversity. The history curriculum gives teachers and schools the freedom and flexibility to use specific examples from history to teach pupils about the history of Britain and the wider world. Schools and teachers can determine which examples, topics and resources to use to stimulate and challenge pupils and reflect key points in history.There are opportunities within the themes and eras of the history curriculum for teachers and schools to teach Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic history at Key Stages 1 to 3, and to teach about colonisation.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Coronavirus

the lord bishop of rochester: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) prisoners, and (2) staff, were (a) suspected of having, (b) confirmed as having, (3) hospitalised as a result of, and (4) died from, COVID-19 in prisons in England, broken down by region.

lord keen of elie: The data requested can be found below and is correct as of Friday 19 June.Please note, for the number of staff suspected of having Covid-19 the guidance was changed on 20 April so that symptomatic staff members could be identified separately. Before 20 April all staff members who were isolating under the PHE guidance were counted and those who were symptomatic could not be identified specifically. This may have slightly overestimated the number of symptomatic staff before 20 April. For some regions this data has been backdated so the total number of staff suspected of having Covid-19 is known.On 24 April, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, announced the rollout of Covid-19 testing for all essential workers and symptomatic members of their household, including prison staff.From 15 April, due to the sufficient availability of testing supplies all symptomatic prisoners were tested.RegionStaff suspected of having Covid-19Staff confirmed as having Covid-19Staff hospitalised as a result of Covid-19Staff deaths as a result of Covid-19Region11,33715082Region21,1261788-Region31,97321013-Region4845546-Region51,0157191Region62,41791133Region72,482144102Total 11,195  898  67  8  RegionPrisoners suspected of having Covid-19Prisoners confirmed as having Covid-19Prisoners hospitalised as a result of Covid-19Prisoner deaths as a result of Covid-19Region 161281~2Region 24885873Region 3725118104Region 445519~3Region 525218105Region 6513549-Region 74195484Total 3,464  402  51  21  Regions by prison group:Region 1 – Cumbria and Lancashire; Greater Manchester, Merseyside and CheshireRegion 2 – Yorkshire; Tees and WearRegion 3 – North Midlands; West Midlands; East MidlandsRegion 4 – Avon and South Dorset; South Central; Devon and North DorsetRegion 5 – Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk; Hertfordshire, Essex and SuffolkRegion 6 – London; Kent, Surrey and SussexRegion 7 – Long Term and High Security Estate  Notes - Staff suspected of having Covid-19 have been calculated as staff who are on sickness absence or showing symptoms. There may be other staff with suspected Covid-19 who are in the self-isolating category not included here.- Prisoners suspected of having Covid-19 have been calculated as prisoners recorded as displaying symptoms.- Some staff or prisoners may be counted twice if they have had two periods of symptoms.- Confirmed staff cases are self-reported.- Staff and prisoner hospitalisations have been calculated as those who have tested positive and have been hospitalised. The hospitalisation may not have been as a result of Covid-19 in some cases, and there may be other cases where Covid-19 has not been confirmed which are included here.- These numbers include all historic cases, many of which are now closed.- Data for staff deaths represents individuals that have been confirmed as having Covid-19, though it is not necessarily the cause of death.- Data for prisoner deaths represents individuals where Covid-19 is suspected to be the cause.- These tables include silver command regions 1 to 7 which cover prisons in England, but also include 2 STCs and 1 IRC.- Staff figures contain both directly and non-directly employed staff.- The symbol ~ denotes suppressed values of 4 or fewer to avoid the risk of identifying individuals.- These figures have been drawn from the daily HMPPS Covid-19 reports. Care is taken when processing and analysing the returns but the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The Ministry of Justice has started publishing a weekly release of Covid-19 related statistics. This includes confirmed Covid-19 cases in prisoners and children in custody; and deaths among prisoners and children in custody where Covid-19 is suspected to be the cause.The statistics release can be found here each Friday: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hm-prison-and-probation-service-covid-19-statisticsPlease note, this publication provides statistics for prisons across England and Wales, the data in the tables above relates to prisons in England only.

Prisons: Coronavirus

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many COVID-19 (1) cases, and (2) deaths, there have been in the UK since 23 March; what steps they have taken to prevent transmission of COVID-19 in prisons; what measures are in place to mitigate the risks of suicide, particularly among young offenders; whether those measures include extending the amount of time prisoners may spend out of their cell each day; and how many low risk prisoners have been released early to reduce overcrowding in cells during the COVID-19 pandemic.

lord keen of elie: The Government acted quickly to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in prisons by implementing restricted regimes to comply with national social distancing guidance and limiting inter-prisons transfers. Prisons are also implementing a ‘compartmentalisation’ strategy to isolate the sick, shield the vulnerable and quarantine new arrivals. Latest public health advice suggests these measures have contained the spread of the virus and minimised the number of deaths.As of Friday 12 June, we are aware of 495 prisoner and 963 prison staff COVID-19 cases across England and Wales. These figures reflect the total cumulative number of recorded positive cases – not the number of live cases – of COVID-19, and includes individuals that have since recovered. Figures are subject to revision as more information becomes available.As of Friday 12 June, 23 prisoners and 9 members of prison staff have sadly died having tested positive for COVID-19 or having shown symptoms. It is a matter for the coroners to determine cause of death.The restricted regimes introduced to protect prisoners and staff from COVID-19 mean that prisoners are spending longer in their cells than normal which raises new and different risks to safety and the mental health of prisoners. The Government takes its responsibilities for these issues very seriously.To this end, the Government is supporting prison Governors to devise and implement local safety and welfare plans designed to mitigate these safety risks. Prisons across the estate are giving prisoners access to educational and entertainment material intended to support their wellbeing. Prisoners confined to their cells continue to access healthcare and time in the open air, where possible. They also have access to telephones, extra phone credit and, where available, video calls to contact their loved ones. We continue to make the Samaritans phone service available, and are working with the Samaritans to ensure that the listener peer support scheme continues to function effectively.Within the Youth Custody Service (YCS) there has been a focus on delivering essential activities such as regular phone calls (with young people having been allocated additional free phone credits), access to showers and education materials, and time in the fresh air, as well as activities children can undertake in small groups or in their rooms, including workouts and access to entertainment.‘SECURE STAIRS’ -the integrated framework of care jointly led by NHS England and NHS Improvement and the YCS, provides the foundations as to how the YCS works with children - has been adopting an approach that underlines the importance of connectivity, whilst adhering to the guidance on physical distancing.The YCS is continuously assessing the situation, and is keen to expand the regime as soon as it is safe and sustainable to do so.On 4 April, the Government announced the End of Custody Temporary Release scheme. This scheme enables risk-assessed prisoners, who are within two months of their release date, to be temporarily released from custody, as part of the national approach to managing public services during this challenging period. As of Friday 12 June, 113 offenders have been released under this scheme. Our plans for early release form one part of a package of measures to create headroom in the estate to allow us to fully implement compartmentalisation. We are also working to expedite remand cases and temporarily expanding the estate through the installation of single occupancy units.

Barristers: Self-employed

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings of the research by the Bar Council published on 27 April that without further support 74 per cent of self-employed barristers will be unable to continue to practice.

lord keen of elie: The Government is continuing to engage with the Bar Council to understand the concerns and what support we can provide. The Government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) covers most people who receive most of their income from self-employment. In addition, for criminal legal aid practitioners, we have provided greater access to hardship payments from the Legal Aid Agency to allow practitioners to claim one month after they were first instructed instead of six, and to lower the threshold for work done on a case from £5,000 to £450. We also note that the four Inns of Court have created a package of measures to assist junior barristers and that an emergency fund by the Barristers’ Benevolent Association and hardship funds from the inns are being introduced. We continue to keep the situation under review in the light of developing recovery plans.

Barristers: Young People

lord taylor of warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they taking, if any, to support young barristers.

lord keen of elie: The legal profession in England and Wales is independent of government, and barristers are regulated by the Bar Council through the Bar Standards Board. The Government’s Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) covers most people who receive most of their income from self-employment, and young barristers who are eligible can benefit from this scheme. For young barristers who are criminal legal aid practitioners, we have provided greater access to hardship payments from the Legal Aid Agency to allow practitioners to claim one month after they were first instructed instead of six, and to lower the threshold for work done on a case from £5,000 to £450.

Department for International Trade

Trade Agreements: Conditions of Employment and Human Rights

baroness ritchie of downpatrick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effect of preferential trade agreements on (1) labour standards, and (2) human rights.

lord grimstone of boscobel: The United Kingdom has a strong history of safeguarding rights and promoting our val-ues globally. Our strong economic relationships with trading partners allow the Govern-ment to have open discussions on a range of difficult issues, including rights and responsibilities.The United Kingdom upholds its international labour standard commitments through domestic legislation and any Free Trade Agreements that we finalise with other countries will not change those commitments.Further, we are clear that more trade does not have to come at the expense of our track record in upholding rights and responsibilities. We will include measures that allow the United Kingdom to maintain the integrity, and provide meaningful protection, of our world-leading labour standards, and we continue to encourage all states to uphold international rights and obligations too.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Ethnic Groups

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage ofBAME personnel hold senior leadership or managerial roles in (1) the Royal Air Force, (2) the Army, and (3) the Royal Navy.

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many BAME personnel hold senior leadership or managerial roles in (1) the Royal Air Force, (2) the army, and (3) the Royal Navy.

baroness goldie: Defence has been working hard to achieve a more diverse workforce. However, progress in terms of the representative rates of our people – both military and civilian – has been too slow. It is clear there is still much further to go if we are to successfully attract and retain diverse talent both now and in the future. That is why we are renewing our levels of ambition at the highest levels in Defence as we work to fulfil the key objective in our 2018-2030 Diversity and Inclusion Strategy to eliminate discrimination and improve diversity throughout Defence. Since 2015 the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has been working towards a target for 10% of recruits into the Armed Forces to be from a Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic (BAME) background by April 2020, rising to 20% thereafter. These are challenging targets demonstrating the importance Defence places on having Armed Forces reflecting the society they serve. I am pleased to confirm the latest statistics show we have now exceeded the initial intake target as 11.7% of recruits were Black, Asian or from an ethnic minority in the 12 months to 31 March 2020. While this is an improvement, there is further long-term progress to be made and sustained. Ongoing work to improve all aspects of diversity in MOD continues, includes better understanding and greater engagement with the communities the Armed Forces want to recruit from; reviewing recruitment processes; and better targeting marketing and communications. As at 1 April 2020, the numbers of UK Regular full-time Service personnel who had declared their ethnicity as BAME and were serving at NATO Rank OF-6 or above (Brigadier and equivalent) were five or fewer in each Service. In addition, fewer than five Senior Civil Servants employed in each Command had declared their ethnicity as BAME. In line with standard statistical disclosure methodology, the percentages associated with these figures have been suppressed to ensure individuals are not inadvertently identified. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) publishes biannual statistics on diversity declarations for Armed Forces personnel and MOD civilian staff. The latest editions can be found at the following links: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/uk-armed-forces-biannual-diversity-statistics-index https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/mod-diversity-dashboard-2020

Inappropriate Behaviours in the Armed Forces Review

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government, furtherto the Wigston Report on inappropriate behaviours in the Armed Forces, published on 15 July 2019, howthey investigated causes of overrepresentation of minority groups in the Armed Forces complaints process.

baroness goldie: Officials have identified a preferred set of researchers and are currently undertaking the necessary commercial process to conduct an independent study into why there appears to be overrepresentation of Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) personnel in the Service complaints system.

Military Bases: Closures

the earl of shrewsbury: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether, when the Ministry of Defence wish to close and dispose of a site and inform the original landowners or their successors in title that Crichel Down Rules will not apply, they are under a duty to provide a detailed explanation to the former landowners as to why they believe such Rules do not apply.

baroness goldie: The Crichel Down Rules (CDR) are applied to any land that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) originally acquired or may have acquired through compulsory purchase or threat of compulsory purchase. Where it is decided that the CDR do not apply to a disposal site, there is no obligation on the MOD to notify the former owner(s) of this decision. Where the CDR apply to a disposal site, but that site falls within any of the exceptions in the CDR from the obligation to offer back, the former owner(s) will be notified of this decision and the relevant exception (s) being relied upon. There is no duty imposed by the CDR to provide former owners with a detailed explanation of their applicability or the exceptions being relied upon.

Voyager Aircraft

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how muchit has cost to paint and carry out works on RAF Voyager.

baroness goldie: I refer the Noble Lord to the reply given by my hon. Friend, the Minister for Defence Procurement (Jeremy Quin), in the House of Commons on 22 June 2020 to the hon. Members for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner), Newport West (Ruth Jones), Glasgow South (Stewart Malcom McDonald), Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) and Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan) in response to Question numbers 60776, 60864, 60814, 60482, 60852 and 60853 respectively.



Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft
(Word Document, 13.93 KB)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Ivory: Sales

lord hague of richmond: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of ivory products commercially traded within the UK each year since 2015.

lord goldsmith of richmond park: The Government’s consultation on proposals to ban UK sales of ivory asked for evidence on the value, or number, of sales of items containing ivory in the UK. The response was published on the Defra website on 3 April 2018 and is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/banning-uk-sales-of-ivory

Ivory: Public Consultation

lord hague of richmond: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect to publish a response to their Non-elephant ivory trade: call for evidence, published on 30 May 2019.

lord hague of richmond: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to publish an updated version of Tables 2 and 3 of theirNon-elephant ivory trade: call for evidence, published on 30 May 2019,setting out data on the import and export of non-elephant ivory products in the UK in 2018.

lord hague of richmond: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to use the provisions of section 37 of the Ivory Act 2018 to introduce secondary legislation extending the provisions of that Act to the common hippopotamus.

lord goldsmith of richmond park: We published the call for evidence on the non-elephant ivory trade on 30 May 2019. We are currently considering this evidence and the next steps. A summary of the responses will be published in due course. We have no plans at present to publish an updated version of Tables 2 and 3 in the non-elephant ivory trade call for evidence.

Birds: Conservation

lord patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of penalties in deterring the trapping, poisoning or shooting of protected species of birds in England and Wales.

lord goldsmith of richmond park: The Government has not carried out an assessment of the deterrent effect of penalties for wildlife crime. Measuring the effectiveness of deterrence is extremely challenging, as potential offenders do not often admit to being deterred from committing a crime. Nevertheless, the Government takes wildlife crime seriously. Those who commit offences under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and other legislation that protects our wildlife face significant penalties including up to six months in prison and/or unlimited fines.

Biodiversity

baroness bennett of manor castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to replace the Joint Nature Conservation Committee'sUK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework: Revised Implementation Planbefore that plan expires.

lord goldsmith of richmond park: Biodiversity is a devolved matter in the UK, and each country has its own national biodiversity plan or strategy. The UK framework was established by the UK Government and Devolved Administrations to identify joint actions to complement country implementation, for example on reporting to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), evidence collation and sharing of best practice. The UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework and its implementation plan are reviewed regularly by the four UK countries, alongside the Joint Nature Conservation Committee. It is our intention to continue working together to develop a new UK Biodiversity Framework and associated implementation plan, on which discussions are underway. Our intention is also that the new Biodiversity Framework will set out shared priorities and areas for collaboration across the UK, primarily as a collective response to the post-2020 global framework of goals and targets, expected to be agreed at the CBD’s Fifteenth Conference of the Parties, COP15. We had envisaged that publication of a new UK Framework would follow COP15, originally scheduled for October 2020, and therefore lead on directly from the existing implementation plan. As COP15 has been delayed to 2021 in light of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, we will ensure that our collaborative momentum continues, including to consider a further revised plan until the new global framework is announced.

Agriculture: Subsidies

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government which Environmental Land Management tests and trials have included access provisions or schemes.

lord gardiner of kimble: To support the development of Environmental Land Management (ELM), the Government is undertaking a number of tests and trials, working with farmers and land managers to co-design the new schemes. These tests and trials will help us to assess how the scheme could work in a real life environment. Three of our tests and trials look at issues concerning access.1. The Trails Trust, How to incentivise green infrastructure access and biodiversity creation The Trails Trust will work with 50 farmers and land managers in the Mendip Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to explore the barriers and potential solutions to creating, upgrading and maintaining infrastructure networks. The test will look at the willingness of farmers and land managers to create, enhance and maintain access across different acreages and land uses. The test will also explore the valuation of incentives that landowners would require to implement access rights along specified routes. The test is due to conclude at the end of June 2021.2. Kent Downs AONB, Enhancing access opportunities, as part of the NAAONBs (National Association of AONBs) submission This proposal was submitted by the NAAONB on behalf of 12 individual AONBs, one of which included the Kent Downs AONB. The Kent Downs AONB’s test is working with two farmers/land manager groups to identify the barriers to access to landscapes and nature and co-develop a template of practical ways through which ELM can support better and more diverse access. Local trusted experts will work with farmers and land managers and their representative organisations to explore existing best practice; experts in access health and wellbeing will be involved to assess benefits and barriers. The test is due to complete by March 2021.3. South Downs National Park Authority, South Downs and the Land App South Downs National Park Authority is working with the Land App, a GIS mapping system developed for farmers, to collate maps and data about their holding in one user-friendly place. The proposal will work with farmers from the South Downs farm clusters and use the Land App and the data it holds to evaluate and plan the delivery of public goods at a landscape (cluster or part cluster) scale. This includes working with the Winchester Downs Cluster group who will focus on public access issues and opportunities. The test is due to complete by mid-July 2020.

Barbecues

lord greaves: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce measures to control the use of barbecues outside private property and, in particular, the use of mobile and disposable barbecues in open countryside and moorlands.

lord gardiner of kimble: Current byelaw legislation allows for local authorities to restrict and enforce the use of disposable barbecues in parks and public spaces. Defra is working with stakeholders to promote a series of guidance videos to educate users about accessing the countryside safely. This includes an updated Countryside Code which advises not to have barbecues or fires. This guidance is available at the following links: Green space access: www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-on-accessing-green-spaces-safely The Countryside Code: www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-countryside-code/the-countryside-code

Home Office

Immigration: Commonwealth

the lord bishop of southwark: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level ofoversight of sanctions, including denial of employment, health services, benefits and housing, to Commonwealth Citizens who do not have correct documentation but who have (1) right of abode or (2) right to remain in the UK.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government is committed to a firm, fair and humane immigration policy which distinguishes effectively between those with lawful status and those here illegally. In common with other comparable countries, the UK has in place a framework of laws, policies and administrative arrangements, introduced under successive governments, ensuring access to work, benefits and services is permitted for those with the right access to them. Key measures were the subject of public consultations and/or impact assessments before they were introduced. Eligibility checks are based on checking lawful status and eligibility, not the nationality of those accessing work and key services. We have introduced additional safeguards to ensure that those who are lawfully present in the UK are not disadvantaged by our measures. These include additional support within the checking services provided to employers, landlords and public service providers and temporary restrictions on the parameters of proactive data-sharing, to ensure members of the Windrush generation are not wrongly impacted. As the Home Secretary said in her statement to Parliament on 23 June, the Government accepts the findings and recommendations in the Windrush Lessons Learned Review report in full, including those relating to measures designed to regulate access to work, benefits and services.

Police: Recruitment

lord bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what impact their plans to recruit an additional 20,000 police officers will have on resources available for road policing.

baroness williams of trafford: The Government has committed to increasing the number of police officers by 20,000 over the next three years. An additional 20,000 officers sends a clear message that we are committed to giving police the resources they need to tackle crime and keep our communities safe. The Home Office has confirmed the allocations for every force in England and Wales in the first year of the uplift. 6,000 additional officers have been allocated to forces across England and Wales by the end of March 2021 and over 3,000 have already been recruited. We are working closely with policing leaders to ensure the additional resource will have the right impact. Chief Constables remain operationally independent, and the deployment of officers is an operational matter for local Chief Constables.

Aviation: Coronavirus

lord hayward: To ask Her Majesty's Government what systems are being considered to replace the two-week quarantine period for those arriving in the UK; whether any such systems are on trial elsewhere; and what discussions they have had with other Governments about related quarantine trials undertaken by airport operators.

baroness williams of trafford: Following implementation of the health measures on the 8th June 2020, they will be continuously reviewed, including any systems issues with the first formal statutory review point due on 29th June. The review will be informed through continuing regular engagement with international partners and industry as well as through the monitoring of international comparators.

Entry Clearances: Israeli Settlements

baroness tonge: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to ensurethat Israeli settlers living illegally on Palestinian landdo not receive preferential treatment in the requirements for travel to the UK.

baroness williams of trafford: All visitors to the UK are assessed against a set of suitability and eligibility criteria, under the Immigration Rules. The rules apply to all visitors, whether they are applying for a visa in advance of travel or are applying for entry at the UK border. Applications for visit visas or for entry as a visitor are considered on their merits, regardless of where the visitor lives.In addition, all applicants seeking to stay for more than 6 months (e.g. for work, study, settlement) are required to obtain an entry clearance in advance of travel.

UK Visas and Immigration: Coronavirus

baroness bennett of manor castle: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the capacity of UK Visa and Immigration services to process applications, following the suspension of the priority service and the closure of Sopra Steria and some VFS global visa application centres; what consideration they have given to the need to process applications from NHS staff before the suggested changeover date of 5 August; and when they expect a full service will resume.

baroness williams of trafford: As UK Visas and Immigration begins to reopen its Visa Application Centres both in the UK and overseas, we are working closely with our partners to maximise the available capacity to service applicants in line with social distancing rules in each location. For those applicants who are due to start work in the NHS but who are unable to make their application from overseas due to the temporary closure of the Visa Application Centres, they should contact the UKVI NHS Team by emailing UKVINHSTeam@homeoffice.gov.uk and the team will seek to assist them. Applicants sponsored by the NHS who lodge an application in the UK under Tier 2 can begin work immediately while their application is under consideration. The Home Office has put in place a range of measures to support those affected by the covid-19 outbreak, full details of which are published on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents. The department continues to monitor the situation closely and takes these exceptional circumstances into account. These are unprecedented times and further adjustments may be made to requirements where necessary and appropriate, to ensure people are not unduly affected by circumstances beyond their control.

Asylum: Evictions

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of extension beyond 30 June of the halt on the eviction of (1) asylum-seekers, and (2) newly-granted refugees, whose claims have been decided.

baroness williams of trafford: Asylum seekers who are granted refugee status are normally given notice that they must leave any accommodation that has been provided to them by the Home Office within 28 days, as they may now take employment and have access to mainstream benefits and housing assistance from their local authority. Whilst this process was paused on 27 March for a period of three months, we are currently reviewing plans about appropriate timing to resume issuing notices in individual cases in a carefully phased and measured way and have been having discussions with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Local Authorities and others on the arrangements.The timing of those decisions is not affected by the current restrictions on evicting tenants from private rental properties. Those arrangements do not apply to those in asylum support accommodation. This is confirmed in paragraph 2.2 of the Government’s guidance to landlords and tenants, which can be found at: MHCLG guidance (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/888843/Updated_Landlord_and_Tenant_Guidance.pdf)

Immigrants: Finance

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Local Government Association's call on 12 June to suspend the No Recourse to Public Funds status for immigrants for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office is working closely with other government departments such as the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government to support people, including migrants with NRPF, through this pandemic.  Departments are sharing what they are learning from other bodies and charities with each other to ensure we continue to take a pragmatic approach to an unprecedented situation.Many of the wide-ranging Covid-19 measures the government has put in place are not public funds and therefore are available to migrants with NRPF.   The Government has published advice and information about the support available to migrants living here, including where they are subject to NRPF https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-get-support-if-youre-a-migrant-living-in-the-ukWe will keep the situation under review and consider further measures if needed.

Deportation: Veterans

lord touhig: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (1) Commonwealth military veterans, and (2) military veterans from Fiji, have been deported from the UK for failing to gain the correct immigration status.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office does not maintain central records of an individual’s military career history. Providing the information requested would therefore require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost. The Home Office publishes data on returns from the UK in the ‘Immigration Statistics Quarterly Release’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release). Data on the number of returns, by year, nationality and type of return are published in table Ret_D01 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/returns-and-detention-datasets) within the returns detailed dataset. The term 'deportations' refers to a legally-defined subset of returns which are enforced either following a criminal conviction or when it is judged that a person’s removal from the UK is conducive to the public good. Information on those deported is not separately available and therefore the published statistics refer to all enforced returns. Additionally, the Home Office publishes a high-level overview of the data in the ‘Summary tables’, available from the above link. The ‘contents’ sheet contains an overview of all available data on returns. The latest data relates to the year ending March 2020. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’ (https://www.gov.uk/search/research-and-statistics?content_store_document_type=upcoming_statistics&organisations%5B%5D=home-office&order=release-date-oldest).

Asylum: Interviews

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all asylum applicants receive sensitive and fair hearings when interviews are resumed in remote form.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office remains committed to delivering a fair and humane asylum system that is sensitive to the needs of all asylum applicants, so that sufficient information can be obtained to facilitate fair and sustainable decisions on asylum claims. The Home Office takes the wellbeing of asylum seekers extremely seriously and has already put in place a range of measures to support asylum applicants affected by the covid-19 outbreak.  In line with the Home Office’s commitment to protect the health and wellbeing of its staff and applicants as a top priority, Asylum Operations made the decision to cease face to face substantive asylum interviews with effect from Thursday 19th March 2020. However, it is crucial to our applicants that we restart processing their applications for protection as soon as it is safe to do so.  The Home Office has successfully used video technology to support remote interviewing for more than 2 years and has appropriate operating procedures that are designed to ensure participants are able to give the best account of their circumstances. To keep people safe but allow the Home Office to gather the additional information needed to make a decision on their claim for protection, Asylum Operations have secured additional mobile digital and video interviewing kit that enables more applicants to be interviewed remotely. We remain committed to restarting substantive asylum interviews as soon we can establish a process that allows the participants - applicants, representatives, interpreters and interviewers - to do so safely.

Asylum: Interviews

lord hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the report by Freedom from Torture Beyond Belief,published on 16 June, on asylum interviewing; and what measures are in place to prevent pre-judgment and a lack of compassion from harming the cases of vulnerable people, who claim to have suffered torture and severe maltreatment.

baroness williams of trafford: The Home Office remains committed to delivering a fair and humane asylum system that is sensitive to the needs of the claimants, so that sufficient information can be obtained to facilitate fair and sustainable decisions on asylum claims. We ensure that asylum seekers are given every opportunity to disclose information relevant to their claim before a decision is taken, even where that information may be sensitive or difficult to disclose. The report published by Freedom from Torture acknowledges that there have been signs of progress within the Home Office. Improvements have been made to policy instructions to emphasise the importance of caseworker conduct during asylum interviews, in line with an earlier recommendation made by Freedom from Torture. The report also acknowledges the increase in asylum grant rates at initial decision stage, which is indicative of our efforts to improve asylum decision making. Following the publication of the Freedom from Torture report entitled ‘Proving Torture’, a collaborative response to improving training for asylum caseworkers was initiated to develop a training package which directly addressed concerns raised in the report. This resulted in the training course ‘Assessing Evidence: Medical Legal Reports’, which has been rolled out to asylum caseworkers, senior caseworkers and technical specialists since December 2018. The training is now mandatory for any caseworker dealing with asylum claims where Medico-legal reports have been submitted. We will continue to look at the themes raised in the report as part of our ongoing commitment to improve decision quality and the customer experience.

Refugees: Children

the marquess of lothian: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their current policy on the resettlement of unaccompanied child refugees in the UK.

baroness williams of trafford: he Government is clear that protecting vulnerable children is a key priority. Since 2010, the UK has resettled over 29,500 of the world’s most vulnerable refugees, almost half of whom were children. The UK has also granted other forms of protection to more than 44,900 children in the same period, with 7,500 in the last year alone. Last year we welcomed over 3,000 UASCs – more than any other country in Europe. Additionally, we have successfully completed the transfer of 478 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.  Amongst some of the most vulnerable children in Europe seeking asylum, this important work has given them an opportunity to start a new life in the UK and builds on our proud history of offering protection to those who need it.

Treasury

Economic Situation: Coronavirus

lord alton of liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the findings in the report by McKinsey & Company COVID-19 in the United Kingdom: Assessing jobs at risk and the impact on people and places that (1) “UK Gross Domestic Product in 2020 is expected to shrink by 9 per cent”, (2) “7.6 million jobs are at risk”, (3) “people and places with the lowest incomes are the most vulnerable to job loss… with nearly 50 per cent of all the jobs at risk are in occupations earning less than £10 per hour”; and what measures they intend to put in place to address those findings.

lord agnew of oulton: The UK, along with the rest of the world, is continuing to face significant economic disruption in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, with both the OBR and Bank of England publishing scenarios that are consistent with significant falls in GDP this year. The Government has announced unprecedented support for the economy, including via the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme, the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Schemes and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme. However, despite these policies, there will be challenging times ahead, and we will not be able to protect every single job or save every single business. The Government is committed to supporting the lowest paid workers and helping unemployed people go back into work and so is continuing to review what can be done to support those most vulnerable to job loss and to aid the UK’s economic recovery. We are working to ensure our labour market policy response is appropriate and effective.

Credit: Coronavirus

baroness brady: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that consumers’ future ability to access credit is not adversely impacted by any payment holidays taken during the COVID-19 pandemic.

lord agnew of oulton: The Government recognises the important role payment holidays play in providing temporary support to consumers through this period and continues to work closely with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to support consumers facing financial difficulty as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. Lenders must act responsibly when deciding whether and how much credit to issue. This includes assessing consumers’ ability to repay. The information on a consumer’s credit file is an important part of this assessment. FCA guidance makes clear that, during a payment holiday, accounts should be recorded to ensure the consumers’ current credit data position is maintained or frozen for the duration of the payment holiday period. The Government expects that this should not impact on a consumer’s credit file. Consumers should speak to their lender about their options when coming to the end of their payment holiday.

Contact Tracing

baroness lister of burtersett: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Agnew of Oulton on 22 June (HL5695), what financial support will be made available to people who do not have COVID-19 but are required to self-isolate under the COVID-19 contact test and trace system who are unable to work from home; and what consideration they have given to including such people as eligible for the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. [T]

lord agnew of oulton: The Government has committed to an unprecedented package to support individuals through this difficult time. This includes the introduction of the Coronavirus Job Retention and Self-Employment Income Support Schemes, as well as through injecting an additional £8bn into the welfare system. For employees unable to work from home, DWP has laid new regulations to ensure that people asked to isolate by the Test and Trace service will be eligible for Statutory Sick Pay (SSP). This is in addition to changes already made which make SSP payable from day one rather than day four of an absence from work. Employees will still be entitled to claim SSP from their employer even if they are asked to self-isolate several times. A SSP Rebate Scheme was also announced at Budget to support SMEs which may face a financial strain due to staff absences caused by COVID-19. Self-employed people are eligible for “new style” Contributory Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) if they are incapable of work due to COVID-19, including all those who are required to self-isolate according to Government guidance. The Government has made it easier for people to claim by removing the seven-day waiting period, which means people can get support from day one. The Government is committed to helping the lowest paid through the coronavirus outbreak, and the welfare system is best placed to provide this support.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Entertainments and Music: Coronavirus

lord jones of cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the music and entertainment sectors in comparison to other sectors.

baroness barran: No such assessment has been made. However, we appreciate that the Covid-19 pandemic presents a significant challenge to many of DCMS’ sectors including the music and entertainment sectors, which is why the Government has announced unprecedented support for business and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency. DCMS is engaging with a range of departments to support the economic response, and ensuring that the needs of its sectors, and those who work in them, are fully understood. DCMS will continue to work with these valuable sectors to understand the difficulties they face and help them access support through these challenging times and through recovery. To ensure we are assisting all our sectors as effectively as possible, regular ministerially-chaired roundtables are held with business representative organisations as well as trade associations from across music and entertainment. In addition, officials are in regular contact with stakeholders from these sectors, and we continue to speak with HM Treasury colleagues to ensure that the full spectrum of government support reaches the UK's world-leading music and entertainment.

The Senior Deputy Speaker

Palace of Westminster: Coronavirus

lord bowness: The Senior Deputy Speaker whether the Palace of Westminster will be deep cleaned prior to the return of the House in September.

lord laming: The Senior Deputy Speaker has asked me, as Chair of the Services Committee, to respond on his behalf. The Palace of Westminster and outbuildings will continue to be cleaned throughout the recess period, following the Public Health England guidelines for non-healthcare premises. In anticipation of the return of the House following the recess, before the House sits, the Chamber will be given a full clean to include all surfaces used by members and staff. Surfaces and areas around the Chamber will also be cleaned with sanitiser including; Royal Gallery, Prince’s Chamber and Peers’ Lobby. Heritage items in these areas will continue to be treated in line with the appropriate guidance. As is currently in place; an enhanced cleaning regime will continue when the House returns, with hourly cleaning of contact points around the Chamber and the Principal Floor. Elsewhere in the Palace, more frequent cleaning of the toilets, tea points, kitchens and contact points will continue to take place. Hand sanitiser will continue to be supplied at all entrances and access points across the Estate.

Hybrid Proceedings and Virtual Proceedings: Costs

lord dobbs: The Senior Deputy Speaker what has been the cost to date of setting up a virtual House of Lords; and what are the ongoing monthly costs of the hybrid House.

lord mcfall of alcluith: The cost to date of setting up a virtual House of Lords and the ongoing monthly costs of the hybrid House are as follows; Capital set up costs£20,400Other project set up and running costs to 31st May 2020£436,550Total£456,950Regular monthly running costs (based on known commitments at 18th June 2020)£300,900 The figures show the combined implementation/other one-off costs and running costs as at 31 May 2020, and cover committed spend up to that date, as well as the monthly running costs based on known commitments as at 18th June 2020.　 All figures include VAT where appropriate.